FEDERAL TAX ISSUE NOT LIKELY TO BE SETTLED SOON — NAIC officials say they haven’t taken a position on what federal taxes should be excluded from the denominator of the MLR calculations and don't plan to by the end of their Seattle convention, following the letter from top Democratic chairmen earlier this week. The lawmakers said their intention was to exclude only the taxes related to the health law from the denominator. While NAIC hasn’t made a decision either way, NAIC health policy manager Brian Webb signaled how the group feels about the issue: “Unfortunately you can’t establish congressional intent after the fact. We see this as a comment from the Hill.” Democratic aides have said NAIC was waiting for the Hill to provide clarification on the issue, but Webb thinks otherwise. "We're interested in their read of the legislation, very interested. But we're not necessarily waiting for their interpretation." More from Seattle below…

Good morning – It’s another TGIF edition of the Pulse. “Make just one someone happy, and Pulse will be happy, too.”

BPA LEFT OUT OF FOOD SAFETY DEAL — The six senators negotiating the food safety legislation have reached a bipartisan deal and hope to take it up when the Senate returns in mid-September. Sen. Feinstein’s ban on BPA was not included in the bill’s manager’s amendment. But she said she plans to offer an amendment to ban the product in baby bottles, sippy cups, baby food and infant formula. The text and CBO analysis are expected to be released soon.

--"I'm very optimistic on this," Sandra Eskin, who directs the Pew Health Group's Food Safety Campaign, tells PULSE. "It is clearly feasible." Eskin chalks the bill's lack of movement, so far, up to bad timing: passed out of committee back in November, it has been sidelined by health reform and financial regulation. "We've done multiple polls that show widespread support," says Eskin.

MURPHY ASKS FOR ANOTHER SHOT AT 1099 — Rep. Scott Murphy, who introduced the Democrats’ 1099 repeal bill before recess, is asking Steny Hoyer for another shot at the bill when Congress returns. He wants it considered under normal rules, which would give it a much better shot at passing. (The bill was introduced under suspension rules, which require two-thirds support. It failed 241-154.) “This bill has strong support both in Congress and throughout the nation,” Murphy wrote in a letter to Hoyer. “Therefore I respectfully ask that this legislation be re-considered under normal rules as soon as possible.” The letter http://politi.co/bRH7Q1

OBAMA TO SPEAK TO INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS — The White House said Thursday that the president plans to speak about implementation of the reform law at the NAIC conference on Tuesday. While in Seattle, Obama will also headline campaign events for Sen. Patty Murray, who is facing a tough reelection fight.

PULSE FIRST LOOK: HCAN RALLIES AT NAIC — HCAN partners, including SEIU and AFT, plan to deliver disinfection kits to state insurance commissioners during their Saturday meetings, a symbolic gesture meant to urge “them to recommend that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services adopt stringent rules on medical spending for health insurance companies,” according to a release they’ll put out today. The release http://politi.co/b6CCXX

PULLING BACK THE CURTAIN: HCAN’S RECESS STRATEGY — Everyday at 11 a.m., HCAN convenes a call of like-minded advocacy groups to discuss how they can best support pro-health reform legislators. They talk about encouraging event turn out and how they can be most useful. The calls began in late July; they grew partially out of “post traumatic stress syndrome” after last summer’s heated town halls, HCAN’s National Field Director Margarida Jorge says. “Clearly last year we didn’t anticipate what the Tea Party and conservatives were going to do.” The group has a massive shared Google spreadsheet with some 300 events on it.

This summer, the idea isn’t selling health reform. In the lead up to midterms, it’s more about supporting members who supported reform—which, right now, can often be best accomplished by talking economy and jobs. “We want to be flexible in talking about what is most relevant to constituents, whatever issues are most motivational,” Jorge says. “We can have a high level of focus on health care but also understand at times the focus is going to shift.” Their coalition includes groups that span the issue spectrum from labor to clean energy.

THE VIEW FROM THE SEATTLE SHERATON LOBBY — Two big chatter topics among NAIC attendees: the Obama visit and the Hill letter on MLRs and federal taxes. Both caught conference participants by surprise and leave a fair amount to be resolved. The Obama dilemma is the easy one: since the health portion of the conference was slated to wrap at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, a lot of folks booked flights for the early afternoon. With Obama on the schedule, you have a fair contingency of the conference (commissioners included) wondering whether they should rearrange travel plans for POTUS.

-- TWO BIG QUESTIONS you should be asking after Thursday’s exchanges subgroup meeting: 1) What role do insurance agents, particularly their percentage-based commissions, play in a post-reform world? Could they go, as Illinois Commissioner Michael McRaith suggested, “go the way of anything that is archaic and outmoded”? 2) What is the future for an insurance market outside of the Exchange? Commissioners were markedly divided over whether it should exist (IL against; UT and OR for) and, if so, how much it would threaten the health of an Exchange via adverse selection. Exchanges subgroup reconvenes today at 8 a.m.

What have Pulse readers seen? What are you hearing on MLR and federal taxes? Send tips to your roving NAIC reporter, Sarah, at skliff@politico.com (who, incidentally, will be very well caffeinated after many kind Pulse readers took the Starbucks offer – keep the introductions coming.) Follow on Twitter: @sarahkliff.

A group of state and federal lawmakers in Arizona have filed another lawsuit challenging the health care reform law. The suit is financed by the Goldwater Institute and has many of the same points as the multi-state suit led by Florida AG Bill McCollum, according to the Yuma Sun. http://bit.ly/aWZQ0f

Federal regulators are trying to balance protecting consumers from weak insurance policies without killing employer coverage as they negotiate the end to annual limits on insurance plans, according to USA Today and Kaiser Health News. http://bit.ly/aBykrE

The editorial board at the St. Petersburg Times asks readers to prepare for health care reform, “like it or not.” http://bit.ly/a2ZA9S

HCAN’s Ethan Rome writes in the Huffington Post that insurers are “now trying to undermine the law with intense pressure on state officials to water down the federal provisions and interfere with their implementation.” http://huff.to/95JK89